Saturday, September 1, 2018

The 2018 Detroit Jazz Festival started
Friday evening with memorable performances from headliners the Resident
Ensemble co-led by Grammy-winners drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and bassist
Esperanza Spalding and the Chick Corea Akoustic Band. The sets couldn’t have
been more diverse. The Resident
Ensemble’s set was a big shout out to the
late Detroit jazz pianist Geri Allen. The set
was a mix of Allen’s familiar and lesser-known
compositions. Both Carrington and Spalding worked extensively with Allen, and were
comfortable with her compositions which straddled the lines of post-bop and
free jazz. The Avant-garde pianist Kris Davis completed the rhythm
section. Saxophonists Dave McMurray and Ravi Coltrane were the special guests. McMurray, who’s riding the success of “Music is Life,”
his acclaimed debut recording for Blue Note Records, was of excellent form on
flute. And Coltrane had several mic-dropping solos. The ensemble did a tremendous job of presenting Allen’s music although
the band might have been a bit too out there for the seasoned jazz purists the
Detroit Jazz Festival attracts. Davis fingers, however, zoomed up and
down the keys as if haunted by Allen’s ghost on Black Man,” “Open on All Sides,” and “Printmakers”. Maurice Chestnut tap dancing on Allen’s
“Running as Fast as You Can “was the moment most of the audience thought about
on the drive home.

Chick Corea

Corea’s, the festival’s
artist-in-residence, Akoustic
Band—bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl--was tighter than a new suit jacket. The band made a name for itself in the late 80’s, and during the band’s hour-plusset,
Friday evening they revisited some of the music that made the band a household sensation. The showstopper was the band’s version of
“In a Sentimental Mood,” which Corea dedicated to Aretha Franklin. The band
played it so beautifully I couldn’t help wondering if Franklin’s spirit caught
that part of the band’s performance en route to heaven. The band received an
ovation, and a second one when they closed the set. The audience was so worked
up they would’ve rioted had the band not agreed to an encore. Each member
played an improvised solo. Corea is the leader, and Patitucci is undoubtedly
the band’s muscle. Listening to him walk the bass on “A Japanese Waltz” “That
Old Feeling,” and during his encore solo, a case could be presented that
Patitucci is the greatest jazz bass player of his generation.